Wimbledon 2024: 'Heart-broken' Sabalenka drops out as Alcaraz passes first-round test

Women's world No 3 withdraws from London tournament hours before first-round match while men's reigning champion wins in straight sets

Carlos Alcaraz after beating Mark Lajal 7-6, 7-5, 6-2 in the first round of Wimbledon on July 1, 2024. EPA

World No 3 Aryna Sabalenka dropped out of Wimbledon just hours before her first-round match with Emina Bektas at the All England Club on Monday.

Two-time Australian Open champion Sabalenka revealed at the weekend that there was a chance she could withdraw due to an continuing shoulder problem that primarily affects her serve.

Sabalenka was set to be second on Court One but cut short her practice on Monday afternoon before organisers confirmed she had been forced to withdraw, with Erika Andreeva handed a place in the main draw as a lucky loser.

“Heart-broken to have to tell you all that I won't be able to play The Championships this year. I tried everything to get myself ready but unfortunately my shoulder is not co-operating,” Sabalenka, a semi-finalist in 2021 and 2023, wrote on social media.

“I pushed myself to the limit in practice today to try my best, but my team explained that playing would only make things much worse. This tournament means so much to me and I promise I'll be back stronger than ever next year.”

On court, ninth seed Maria Sakkari eased into the second round with a 6-3, 6-1 win over qualifier McCartney Kessler of the US on Court 12. The 28-year-old Athenian has never been beyond Round 3 but believes there is an opportunity to improve on that mediocre record this year.

With Sabalenka dropping out and no obvious dominant force on grass courts in the draw, Sakkari said many players will believe they can emulate last year's winner Marketa Vondrousova.

“From my side, it's wide open,” Sakkari said after her win. “So anyone can win. Going into the tournament I think that we could name like 20 or 25 girls that could win the tournament right now. The depth of women's tennis is just very good right now, and everyone is playing good.”

French Open finalist Jasmine Paolini was also a straight-sets victor with the Italian seventh seed securing a 7-5, 6-3 win over Spain's Sara Sorribes Tormo, while Ukrainian 18th seed Marta Kostyuk beat Slovakia's Rebecca Sramkova 6-3 6-2.

In the men's draw, meanwhile, defending champion Carlos Alcaraz was given a sterner than expected test by Estonia's Mark Lajal before eventually securing a 7-6, 7-5, 6-2 win on Centre Court.

The Spaniard, who defeated Novak Djokovic after a five-set-thriller in last year's final, was taken to a tie-break in the opening set on Monday and needed a crucial break in game 11 to seal the second before his 269th-ranked opponent ran out of steam in the third.

Alcaraz is attempting to win back-to-back major titles after triumphing at the French Open last month but came up against a determined player in his first appearance in a Grand Slam main draw.

“Honestly it surprised me a little bit because I haven't seen him playing or practising too much,” said Alcaraz. “He has the level to go up a lot. He is really young, the same age as me, and I am sure I am going to see him more often.

“Stepping on this court, it is the most beautiful court I have played on,” added Alcaraz. “I still get nerves when I play here.

“I practised for 45 minutes on Thursday and it was the first time I was nervous on practice because I was playing on this court.”

Fifth seed Daniil Medvedev is through to the next round with a minimum of fuss after defeating Aleksandar Kovacevic of the US 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 on Court Two.

“It was a great match, it's never easy the first match,” admitted the Russian, who reached the semi-finals last year before losing to Alcaraz. “There were moments when it wasn't as easy as the score suggests.

“I've still never lost on Court One so hopefully I can play a lot more matches on this court. Last year I said it was unfortunate I had to go to Centre Court for the semis and I lost. So for the moment, I want to play on Court One, enjoy and try to win.

“It is never easy to win in straight sets, especially on grass. He was serving well and I only had one chance and I was lucky to get a winner on a first serve.”

Norwegian eighth seed Casper Ruud is safely through after beating Australian qualifier Alex Bolt 7-6, 6-4, 6-4 while former semi-finalist Denis Shapovalov of Canada knocked out Chilean 19th seed Nicolas Jarry 6-1, 7-5, 6-4.